A few days in a cabin with the whole family—4 grandchildren under the age of 5, 6 adults, and constant rain—presented an interesting opportunity for music activities with the grandchildren. Grandchild #2, 4 years, 1 month, presented an interesting challenge, as she would sometimes not participate and sometimes try to redirect an activity by talking.
In the classroom, musical interaction was always this teacher's prime mode of interfacing with students. Verbal interaction was on the fringe. Immersion in musical content, like immersion in a foreign language, became the "sound environment" in the classroom, with the mother tongue used sparingly. A four year old would not have tried to redirect a musical activity with words, as in that context, talking was the foreign activity.
A grandchild, on the other hand, knows Grammy in the home context, where language is the prime mode of interfacing and musical interaction is on the fringe. Is it any wonder that a determined four year old would turn to verbalization or non-participation to get Grammy “back to normal?"
